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Somebody needs to point out to the pope that hating religion does not make you an atheist, hating Catholics and Jews does not make you an atheist, hating god does not make you an atheist.

There is no definitive proof that Hitler was an atheist. Mein Kampf was littered with faith references, as were many of his speeches. Granted he also voiced plenty of anti-religious rhetoric, but this lack of consistency can be explained by the fact he was as crazy as a box of frogs. There is very little evidence to suggest that he had no faith in some divine being, only that he had no faith in the abrahamic religions, which is not the same thing.

Psychology 101; If Hitler had no faith, why pick on the Jews? Hitler has a lot more in common with Mel Gibson and the pope than he does with any atheists I know.

A similar simplistic psychological litmus test can also be applied to Stalin who actually attended a catholic seminary before becoming so vehemently atheist. Hands up who thinks Stalin might have been sexually abused by a cleric, or at least disillusioned by the rampant hypocrisy of the church with regards to wealth and suffering?

Does anyone know of a psychological thesis arguing that these alleged-atheist monsters were actually the product of catholicism and catholic indoctrination? It would be infinitely more plausible to me than blaming their actions on atheism, which in my experience tends to be a far more tolerant philosophy than faith.

As an ex-catholic I know how insidious and invidious a catholic upbringing and education can be. It is hard to shed. I am under no illusions that it massively contributed to shaping my personality in my formative years and even elements of who I am today, just as any childhood experience does.

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The mission of the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science is to support scientific education, critical thinking and evidence-based understanding of the natural world in the quest to overcome religious fundamentalism, superstition, intolerance and suffering.